Friday, 1 February 2013

Review Celebration - Christine London

With all the negative news about the
possible outcomes of online relationships, it is time to provide some positive.
For well over a year my e-friend down under and I communicated in a way that
set age, culture, distance and language aside. We messaged about the stuff that
matters: happiness, success, family, challenges, struggles and career,
generously sprinkled with humor and silliness.

Visiting Australia had always been a dream,
so in January of 2008 I took a leap of faith and flew to Melbourne. Sixteen days
of holiday were planned, the first week to be shared with my friend. Sydney,
the Blue Mountains, the Gold Coast and Great Barrier Reef stretched beyond that
first week filled with promise of adventure.

Australia is a secret land of amazing beauty.
Why do I say 'secret'? Because no commercial, film or word of mouth had ever
touched upon the truth of the place. It is stunning.

When
I arrived home, the novel I had been planning took a definite turn down under.
The hero of the tale, Bryan Lassiter, closely shadows the life situation and
emotions of my young friend when the novel opens. Thanks to a place I had never
dreamed of and a man who spent seven days sharing his home town, dreams and
aspirations with me, the Bryan at the beginning of the novel, became real.

And as one review said:

" I
especially loved watching Bryan become a man."

So without
further adieu:

Winner of
The One Hundred Romance Project best of the year—

When
We Were Amazing by
Christine London

When tragedy nearly destroys Brian's
family wine business, can this reluctant young heir forfeit his dreams and
online love to save it?

Excerpt:

“Walk me home, Bryan.”

The smile slid from
his face. Re-fastening the stud of his jeans, he turned to her. “What’s wrong,
Carrie?”

“Nothing.”

“Look at me.” He
hooked her chin with two fingers. “Why are you treating me like I’m suddenly a
stranger?” Tilting her face up to his, he lowered his head to engage her eyes.
She still had hers cast to the ground. “Come on. Did I say something wrong? I
felt…it was…you were amazing.”

Her eyes scrolled
in reluctance to his. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“What do you mean?
You just did…and in the most incredible way.” He smiled, testing the waters of
her reaction.

“It’s not you…You
were perfect.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I don’t think I’m
ready to talk about it.”

Clamping onto her
shoulder he looked into her with intensity. “God damn it Carrie. Don’t start
clamming up. We never did online. Why start now?”

“We never had sex online.”

He raised a dubious
brow.

“Okay…so we wrote
about sex. That doesn’t get you pregnant.”

“So you are
worried.”

“No.”

“I should have
waited to go to the chemist.” He shook his head in self-recrimination. “Should
have had a condom.”

“No…I can’t.” She
stiffened again in his arms.

“You can’t what?”

“I can’t get
pregnant,” she spewed.

He felt his jaw
drop. “You can’t…”

“Yeah. Can’t,” she
reiterated in cold indifference, like a news reporter delivering a story.

He instinctively
drew her to his chest, holding her body as though it might break. “I never
dreamed…I think it’s…okay…”

She pulled away
from him, engaging his eyes once more. “Yeah…I can tell it’s just what you had
in mind.” Turning, she began to jog away from him in the direction of the
high-rise hotels.

“Damn it, Carrie.”
He took off after her. She quickened her pace. Shit she was fast. He broke into
an all out sprint to catch her.

Hooking her arm, he
twirled her about like a top. She spun into him, air knocked from her at the
impact. “Let me go, Bryan,” she spouted in gasp.

“I don’t even know
where you’re staying.”

“Why do you need to
know? It was obviously a mistake coming here.”

He took her by the
shoulders. “Listen to me Carrie. It’s you who’ve decided what’s important to
me. I don’t give a rat’s arse if you can have kids.”

“Yeah…that’s why
you’ve been talking about what a great dad you’re gonna be…how much you want to
watch them grow up.”

She’d caught him.
He had said those things when they’d exchanged hopes and dreams online. He
tried to keep his expression even, but the look on his face sent her over the
edge. The pain in her eyes was something he never wanted to see, never meant to
cause. He knew he’d sent a knife to her heart.

She turned from him
again and ran. He stood, arms hanging in impotence at his side and watched her
disappear into the night, her figure reappearing in the lighting of the awning
of the hotel closest.

It seemed an hour
before he was able to move. His feet felt glued to the pavement; his mind
reeled in self-loathing and regret. Why hadn’t he stopped her? What was wrong
with him?

The chill of the
night invaded him. He felt it press into his bones through the thin t-shirt
he’d dragged over his head. He’d left his jacket behind under the trees where
they’d...

“Damn.” The word
shot from him sounding like it came from someone else. His chest ached with it.
He turned toward the beach car park and walked numbly to his Rover.

Many thanks
to all the thoughtful reviews that take the time to put their feeling about
what I have written on the page.

When We Were
Amazing

Rating: 5 Stars

Review: Christine London’s When We Were Amazing blew
me away. It’s a heart wrenching story
about two people who spend years pining for each other, but the demands of life
and their own stubbornness interfere each time they almost get together. Carrie and Bryan began an internet
relationship of sorts that grows until she decides to fly from her home in
California to surprise him in Australia.
Their first meeting doesn’t go as planned, especially after Bryan learns
she has a son she never told him about. It takes an accident to draw Bryan to
California and they spend a few wonderful weeks together, but their time
together is cut short when a family emergency pulls Bryan away. This story has a lot of twists and turns like
this, and there was never a dull moment.
I loved the hero and heroine (even though I wanted to wring their necks
a few times), and I especially loved watching Bryan become a man. I was a little worried at the beginning of
this story because he seemed indecisive and definitely not the type of hero I
usually root for. But my opinion of him
changed drastically as he met the challenges he was faced with head-on,
overcoming huge obstacles and making sacrifices for his family along the way. Cassie, who is significantly older than
Bryan, also had a lot of pain in her life and having Bryan just to lose him
again only added to her troubles. It
takes years, a chance meeting, and the interference of Cassie’s son to get
these two soul mates together for good.
I loved this contemporary romance novel and couldn’t put it down! Easily 5 stars!

Other review
snippets:

" Grab the Kleenex--you'll need it, and
not just at the end."

" finely written portrait of the
saga of a single Californian and physically challenged son, and her on-again,
off-again romance with a young Aussie heir to a winery fortune, with whom she
has initially cultivated an on-line relationship . Scenes and characters are
developed in loving detail, almost as if the author is using a paint brush to
part multi-colored portraits on a broad canvas."

" This is a beautifully written love story
that takes a realistic view of what an age difference really means. Ms. London
has a way of describing people, places and emotions so you feel you are a part
of the story."

Hi Jane *waves*. Thanks for dropping by. And oh yes--Metropolitan Passion Volume 2 anthology is a great opportunity for readers to get three stories between one cover by three great authors. Each story is a spicy hot tale set in a major city. Jane's "Windy City Love Affair" is set in a summer in Chicago. Very romantic place! ( http://www.amazon.com/Metropolitan-Passions-Volume-Christine-London/dp/1606591665/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359751631&sr=8-1&keywords=metropolitan+passion+volume+two ) ine is set in London (small wonder..lol) and the third, (French Kiss by Missy Lyons) in Paris. How can you lose? *wink*

Hi Rose, Thanks for the compliment. I really enjoyed reading your "Dreamscape" with the very alluring love affair between the dashing Dr Jason Bowen's ghost and the lovely Lanie that inhabits his former hose.What a great twist to have the pair work on solving his murder. A wonderful way to lose yourself in this tempting read.